Mystical Thailand: Nam Man Phrai, necromantic magic oil

In my research towards Kuman Thong and Sak Yant tattoos, I came across Nam Man Phrai, a kind of magical oil. When I started looking into the Thai love and mind control spells, the oil was an essential ingredient once again. Obviously important in Thai black magic, I decided to take a deeper look. Its origin is even darker than I expected. Quite honestly, it sends shivers down my spine.

In the Kuman Thong ceremony, a fetus is soaked in an oil extracted from a deceased person, preferably a pregnant woman who died a violent death. Shocking as that might be, I couldn’t help but wonder. How is this oil obtained?

In Thai and Cambodian occult circles, Nam Man Phrai is considered to be a powerful tool, especially for mind control. It consists of a mixture of sacred oil and bodily fluids, obtained by hovering a flame from a candle over the skin of someone that passed away. While theoretically the fluid can be obtained from any corpse, two properties have a significant impact on its power: the circumstances of death and the type of person. The more violent the deceased’s death, the more power its fluids contain. Gender and age also play an important role. Oil obtained from a pregnant woman that committed suicide is believed to be the most potent, as such a spirit is supposedly the most vengeful as it has suffered the most grief.

In order to make Nam Man Phrai, one has to locate a suitable corpse. On the third night after its burial, the occultist quietly enters the cemetery and asks its deity for permission. Offerings are made: three pots of boiled rice, three boiled eggs, three small fish, the head and tail of a fish, three cigarettes and a bottle of rice whiskey (‘Lao Kao’). Next, an incense stick is lit, before the occultist concentrates, calls the guardian spirit of the cemetery and asks permission to harvest fluids from the pregnant woman, whose exact name is stated. After making the request, the black magic practitioner has to stare into the lit incense stick. If it swiftly dies down, the permission is granted and the first obstacle has been taken. If the oil is taken without permission, the protective deity will awake all spirits and demons of the cemetery and occultist is faced with an angry esoteric army.

a monk in the Nam Man Phrai ceremony

Permission granted, the occultist heads over to the burial site and places three bolders in line over the corpse’s head. A Meed Mor ritual knife is used to dig up the earth around the grave, in eight directions. Next, helpers start digging until they reach the coffin. The occultist next removes all the nails from the lid and tells his helpers to step back so they can no longer see what happens and he can concentrate.

Meed Mor ritual knife

When he flips the coffin open, and the terrible smell of death fills the air, the ghost of the deceased supposedly rises up screaming, hoping to scare the occultist. When he makes a mistake and stops the ritual, it is said that the ghost is set free and will try to harm the occultist. In his concentration, he must remain focused on reciting incantations, so as to weaken the ghost until it surrenders. Once beaten, the ghost is asked on what part of the body oils can be harvested.

Next, yellow slime or body fat is harvested, using a candle made from pure beeswax and a glazed ceramic bowl. Usually about 10 drops of oil can be extracted, which are next diluted with other sacred oils. The result is boiled and mixed with coconut oil and put in a bottle.

The bottle is taken to the shrine room of a temple and placed in a spot, determined by the gaze of Buddha statue in the room. An empowering Kata is chanted into the bottle. This needs to be repeated in a total of 7 shrines in 7 temples. If properly executed the Nam Man Phrai is empowered.

The powerful substance must constantly be offered food and can only be carried around by those with a strong mind and are able to keep it under control with the correct mantras.

Authentic Nam Man Phrai is said to guarantee the effectiveness of mind control and love spells. We’ll get deeper into those on the next occasion.

If you really need to obtain some urgently, this occultist seems to have made an online business around them.